Week Four

This week, our story comes from Luke 6:12-23:

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

'Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
'Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
'Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
'Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.'

See you Sunday at 5:00.

Recap of Week Three

This week, our passage was Mark 1:21-39.

Here are the questions we discussed from Week Three:

The usual ones:
1) What do we learn from Jesus in this story?
2) What is Jesus teaching the disciples?
3) What is Jesus teaching you personally?
4) How can you disciple people as Jesus did in this story?
 
And the questions specific to this passage:
1) How do you respond to Jesus' authority in teaching and healing? How will you demonstrate the authority of Jesus in your life this week?
2) What two practices of worship does Jesus model in this story? What commitments have you made about public and private worship? Why?
3) What is a Quiet Time? What should one do during a Quiet Time to ensure a real meeting with God?
4) What has God communicated to you about your purpose in our Quiet Time?

Week Three

For Week Three, we will learn the story told in Mark1:21-39.

And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are— the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door.  And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out."  And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

I will miss each of you this Sunday at 5:00 as I'll be on my way back from a backpacking trip. Many thanks to Lee Walker for stepping in for me. 

Recap of Week Two

Luke 5:1-11
Jesus taught from Peter's fishing boat, then nearly sank two boats with a lot of fish. He then commanded Peter, James and John to leave their boats and follow him.

The questions that we will ask each week about every story are:
1) What do we learn about Jesus in this story?
2) What is Jesus teaching the disciples?
3) What is Jesus teaching you personally?
4) How can you disciple people as Jesus did in this story?

There are an additional three questions specific to this week's story:
1) What boat in your life does Jesus want to get in?
2) What is Jesus asking you to do to launch out into the deep?
3) What is the next level of following Jesus that He challenges you to?

Week Two

For Week Two, we will learn the story told in Luke 5:1-11.

 

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. Andhe sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' And Simon answered, 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.' And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.' And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

See you Sunday at 5:00.

Recap of Week One

John 1:19-51
This week we covered the fairly lengthy story of Jesus calling his first disciples. We talked about John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus and his testimony that Jesus was the Messiah.

The questions that we will ask each week about every story are:
1) What do we learn about Jesus in this story?
2) What is Jesus teaching the disciples?
3) What is Jesus teaching you personally?
4) How can you disciple people as Jesus did in this story?

There are an additional three questions specific to this week's story:
1) What evidence do you have that Jesus is the Son of God?
2) how do you feel about leaving all other teachers and following Jesus?
3) Who should you invite to come follow Jesus with you?

Following Jesus Together

As I said in my email, I hope you are ready to get another semester of small groups kicked off. Our first week is this Sunday, September 12. We will meet in our regular time (5:00) in our semi-regular spot: The room that is immediately to your left after you come down the stairs from the preschool area and pass the hall to the elevator. (I don't know the number & I doubt you do either.)

I'm pumped about the new method of study we are going to undertake called "storying."

This method of learning the Bible has proven very effective in helping people remember and then relate God's Message to others. Like last semester, the Bible will be our only study materials, but unlike last semester, if you aren't able to keep up with the reading each week, you won't be lost when we start discussing it at our group and you'll still be able to participate. We are going to learn more about the process of discipleship by following the best example: Jesus as he calls and disciples the apostles.

I'll explain more about how this is going to work on Sunday, but here is your homework before then:

Familiarize yourself with John 1:19-51. This will be the text that we will discuss on Sunday.


Also, I'd encourage you to try to learn a memory verse each week. The memory verse for this week is John 1:29.

Each week, in addition to an email, I'll post the Biblical text and memory verse for the week on our blog

See you this Sunday.